Five cosy winter cabins within driving distance of Calgary

Lush Mountain’s Couloir cabins can be found near Golden B.C.

Outdoor lovers with a penchant for adventure tend to claim the winter Rockies as their own, but there’s no shame in burning mindless time with a good book and a hot toddy, nestled away in one of the cosy cabins in the Canadian Rockies.

From baked goods like grandma used to make, to over-the-top thread counts and down duvets, there are a number of cabins in the Rockies that make winter getaways a relaxing indulgence.

Here are the five cosiest cabins in and around the Canadian Rockies within a four-hour drive of Calgary.

First, a few tips. Make plans in advance because they get booked up for the holidays. All are perfect for family vacations, but they all are also sure fire ways to re-kindle your romantic flames, some complete with a bear-skin rug.

Cruise through Banff National Park to Field, B.C. (keep your eyes peeled for elk sightings along the Trans Canada, or drive the 1A for some real potential wildlife viewing — between Banff and the Castle junction, you’ll have a good chance of also seeing bighorn sheep) and head to Emerald Lake Lodge. With a historic past dating back to 1902, the lodge sits high in the Canadian Rockies, where 24 two-storey cabins hug the shoreline of the namesake lake. Start mornings early with a snowshoe or cross-country ski around the lake to immerse yourself in the wintery silence, which is only broken by a Clark’s nutcracker foraging for seeds and wisps of wind tugging the needles away from the stiff lodgepole pines.

There are no ringing phones or blaring TVs in the cabins. It will be just you and your clan, basking in the Rocky Mountain splendour, enjoying fine food in the old lodge, with its heritage bar that harkens back to the Yukon gold rush, with rustic timber beams accenting the walls, with the fire warming your heart. Finally some time to relax.

Powder Matt’s tip: Game night in the lodge, some cribbage, chess or checkers for a classic old-camp experience.

Golden has been beckoning skiers and mountain adventurers for more than a century and now you can bring the tribe and set up your own basecamp. Kiss roughing it good-bye, as nothing beats your own private mountain castle, fittingly named the Couloir, a slope-side masterpiece. It retains the cosy ambience with master-class timber mill work and inviting large windows that frame the mountain vistas. The outdoors beckon for the keen skiers, but it’s just as easy to sink deep into the comfy couch, and start that book you have been trying to read since last summer’s escape. Time has a special cadence, cabin brain sets in, allowing that badly needed you time, to ski — hey it is just a short slide to the lift — or maybe indulge your inner foodie or soak in the hot tub of your celestial dreams. Repeat.

Powder Matt’s tip: stock up on groceries before heading up to the resort, but don’t miss a meal and the view from Eagle’s Eye restaurant, Canada’s highest restaurant.

3. Moving southwest to Kimberley, in the Kootenay region of B.C., you can yell out “road trip!” and pull you into that youthful adventure state. Kimberley is a town transitioning from a resource-extraction economy to one more based on tourism and lifestyle on the edge of the wilderness. At Dreamcatcher, a few cabins dot the peaceful woods, surrounding a centre lodge that houses your essentials for renewal — yoga practice area for that morning relaxation session, a well-equipped exercise room (if you don’t plan to bash the bumps at Kimberley Alpine Resort, which is a short walk away) and that obligatory outdoor hot tub for renewal after a cross country ski on the nearby trails of the Nordic centre. Here you have your own private home where you can pad around in slippers, fill the provided wine racks, do some taste tests, and enjoy the woodsy elegance of flickering gas fireplaces, peeled timber floors and slate stone bathrooms.

Powder Matt’s tip: bring your ice skates for a slide in the resort village, and roast some marshmallows at the outdoor fire pit.

4. Searching for the perfect ski cabin? Immersed in a cedar forest near Fernie, B.C. sit three quintessential classic Rocky mountain log cabins, called Snow Creek. At first glance, it’s a scene from the wild west, as you work the vintage fronted gas stove and load the farmhouse style cabinets with your provisions. Snow Creek Cabins are designed to be that classic pioneer cabin of days gone by but with all the luxuries of today. Nothing brings it closer to home than a soak in an open air claw-foot bathtub, front and center in the master bedroom. Don’t worry — you won’t have to wait for buckets of hot water, but don’t forget that big body red to sip during your soak. But if you don’t want to get your feet wet indoors, there is always the natural classic of a star-lit soak in a deckside outdoor hot tub. Floor-to-ceiling windows create the perfect snowflake-gazing experience, which may invite you outside for a ski. And if, for some reason, you want to leave your cabin, the town that Rolling Stone magazine called the coolest mountain town in North America is only a short drive away.

Powder Matt tip: Once the skiers leave, grab a sled for family sliding fun and or take a snowshoe walk through a huge cedar forest, just steps away.

5. More interested in a setting fitting a classic oil painting hanging on the walls of the Glenbow by some famous Old West artist? Then you would like Nipika Mountain Resort. On the edge of Kootenay National Park, down a dirt side road, you’ll quickly melt into the solitude. The Bergeron Cabin, perched on a hilltop, gives you a feeling of a real wilderness escape, as your view is only the trees and the rocky ramparts of the Stanford Range of the Canadian Rockies. Breathe in, calm those city nerves, because everything about your stay here is wrapped around nature’s schedule. A cross-country ski through the meadow on the edge of the Kootenay River might do the trick, or strap on snowshoes for stomp up the hillside. There are no motorized activities here, just you, a few log-and-timber-frame cabins, and the elk, deer, moose, and even the possible wolf.

Powder Matt tip: Don’t miss out on taking in a night snowshoe, be quiet and listen to sounds of the wilderness.

Calgary Herald

For More Information:

Emerald Lake Lodge, Don’t forget to also make dining reservations when you book and also check out the snowshoe and cross country trails www.crmr.com/emerald

Golden, British Columbia, Lush Mountain Homes, check out the Couloir private home, www.lushmountain.com Another option is to book lift and lodging package at www.kickinghorseresort.com

Dreamcatcher cabins, Kimberley, British Columbia, perfect for the couple or family ski trip www.skikimberley.com

Fernie, British Columbia, a ski in and ski out getaway that can’t be beat! Snow Creek Cabins www.skifernie.com/vacations

Nipika Mountain Resort, on the edge of Kootenay National Park, www.Nipika.com

Matt Mosteller is better known as Powder Matt through his blog at PowderMatt.com or at CalgaryHerald.com. He spends his days on the slopes working at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. Check out this adventure lover’s first book at mattmosteller.org.

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